Light incontinence causes sufferers to involuntarily leak urine, and is a disability which is generally hidden. The problem and its causes are different between men and women. Many men who suffer from prostate problems also suffer from light incontinence. For instance, many men who have had prostate operations have encountered problems with light incontinence. Due to the anatomical differences between men and women, and the differences in the nature of the incontinence, incontinence guards have been specially designed for male users.
A typical male incontinence guard is shown in German utility model DE 298 21 849. It has a shape which is wider at the front of the guard and tapers towards the rear edge of the guard. Such an incontinence guard is fitted inside the wearer's underwear and has the ability to enclose the wearer's penis (and sometimes scrotum). The guard illustrated in DE 298 21 849 comprises three adhesive patches for fixing to the wearer's underwear.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,486,168 also describes a typical male incontinence guard.
WO 92/01431 also illustrates an incontinence guard (absorbent pad) for men. The guard has adhesive zones covered by a releasable cover sheet.
The technology and design of male incontinence guards has often been based on absorbent articles intended primarily for female users, such as panty-liners, female incontinence guards and sanitary towels, as the female market for such products has traditionally been much larger. However, the present inventors have recognised that the solutions provided by articles intended for use by female wearers are not always best suited for application to male incontinence guards. In particular, articles intended for use by female wearers provide means for securing the article in the underwear of the wearer which are not always entirely suitable when attempting to secure articles intended for use by male wearers. This particular problem arises from the differences in the types of underwear, anatomical differences between the sexes, different positioning of the article during use and the differences in the design of the article for male and female wearers.